


Awkward Campfire Chat

by MinaValkyrie



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-21
Updated: 2015-03-21
Packaged: 2018-03-18 20:26:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3582795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MinaValkyrie/pseuds/MinaValkyrie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Authiel awakes from a nightmare stemming from her encounter with Envy and seeks out Cullen for comfort.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Awkward Campfire Chat

“He’s still awake you know…” The voice trailed off, spoken quietly and almost a whisper.

She barely even heard it. She had just awoken violently from her sleep, a nightmare of…Envy. She was sitting upright in her bed, clasping one hand to her head and the other steadying her. Her chest heaved and she was covered in a light film of sweat. The room was dimly lit, only light reflecting in from the fires outside. She looked around the room for the source of the voice and in the corner he sat, his large hat shielding his face and much of his upper torso.

“What?” She asked, barely a whisper itself.

“He’s still awake, haunted by his own demons, he works well into the night.” He responded, lifting his head slightly, but not enough to see his eyes.

She nodded quietly and moved to the side, resting her feet on the wooden floor of the small structure. She sighed, moving the blankets from her, she couldn’t sleep either but she was grateful she wasn’t exactly alone. The events of the last few days had left her shaken inside, but she had mostly held her countenance together. _Mostly._ What had come out had been some unconscious distrust and anger, the scene in the war room. She wiped that from her mind, she would deal with the repercussions of her decisions and actions later, but she had to see. Had to make sure her nightmare was just that. Her heart was heavy as she stood and grabbed a simple cloak to place about her shoulders and slipped her feet into some boots without lacing them. She then made her way purposefully to the door and stopped short to look at the figure sitting next to it.

“Thank you Cole.” She said, and smiled. He returned her gaze this time, but quickly put his head back down. She opened the door into the night and the chill that always hung around Haven. She pulled the cloak tighter around her shoulders and strode to the center of Haven to make her way down the staircase. _“He is strange, but his presence is oddly comforting_.” She thought to herself as she made her way to the rows of tents at the very bottom of the village. She had thought the same thing when they met in that…whatever it was. She was glad to see a friendly, if unfamiliar face, that wasn’t ready to kill her. She tried to push the images from her mind again, but they haunted her and were the reason for her late night stroll through Haven. She stopped at the door that led to where the blacksmith, Iron Bull, and the soldiers stayed. Cole was right, there was a campfire close to the last row of tents still burning strong. She moved slowly and quietly along the tents, unsure if she should continue or turn back.

She was still trying to decide when she found herself inadvertently standing behind him, the Inquisition’s formidable Commander. He was reading and doing reports in the light of the campfire, his fur mantle was pulled close around him but his shoulders were not as broad as they were in daylight. Her heart skipped a beat for a moment, she hadn’t been this close to him since they had gained the Templars as allies, and never seen him without all of his armor. She was happy nonetheless to see him, and especially see the small puffs of mist rising from his breath as he worked.

“Commander, do you ever rest?” She quipped quietly, keeping her voice low and soft so as not to startle him. She also tried her best to give a small smile, even though the images in her head were running rampant now. The images Envy had put there, the images she desperately needed to disprove or erase.

He turned quickly to face her, startled that anyone besides himself was up so late at night.

“Herald!?” He barely choked out as his eyes looked over her appearance. She was in nothing more than a simple shift and an oversized cloak. Cullen forced his eyes to return to her face, she was wearing a slight smile but weary and exhaustion had gathered around her eyes and the rest of her face. Even her light eyes appeared terribly darkened at this hour.

“I – I didn’t expect anyone to be up at this hour, I hope I wasn’t disturbing you.” He stammered again, he always stammered around her. It frustrated him to no end, but he could never quite find the confidence to go with his words when she was this close in proximity. She moved closer and motioned to the log where he was sitting, surrounded in reports.

“May I?” She asked politely. He nodded and moved to the side making room for her to sit, which she did slowly. Her eyes didn’t leave him, the slight smile remained, but her eyes were certainly clouded. He could see it more clearly in the light of the fire now that she was so close. _“Why in the Maker’s name is she here at this hour?”_ He thought to himself, wondering what could have roused her and drawn her to this side of Haven.

“I…” Her voice trailed off, betraying her earlier bit of confidence. It seemed to be exhausted now that she was sitting next to him. She studied his face, he looked puzzled if not uncomfortable. She was staring, and she knew it. Her eyes kept dropping to his neck, which despite the fur mantle, was wonderfully available to her to inspect. It was the reason she had come after all.

“You…?” He asked in a low voice, now disarmed by her incessant gaze. This whole situation was puzzling him more and more. She kept looking lower than his face too, he suddenly felt very aware that he was not in his armor either, but in a simple tunic and leather breeches. Her gaze was not lewd though, it looked more concerned as her brows had knitted together and her smile had faded.

She blushed at his question as her eyes quickly snapped up to meet his. She realized how foolish she must look to him right now, and she finally broke her stare to look instead at the campfire. Hoping that the night and the flames would hide her embarrassment and indecision.

“I – I…umm…needed to talk to you…” She fell over her words, it was true but it sounded oddly desperate when she said it. This isn’t how she wanted…this isn’t…

“What did you need to talk to me about Herald?” There was concern in his voice, more than she wished there would be. She could feel him now fully focused on her, without needing to turn to see that it was him who was now staring. And it was her fault, she had made this awkward.

“Authiel.”

“Hmm?”

“My name, Commander, is Authiel. You needn’t address me so formally…I…don’t want to…I’m not here to talk about Inquisition things.” She responded, trying to draw her confidence back. She turned to face him again, her eyes connecting immediately with his golden honey eyes. She needed to know, needed to set her worries aside, the images from Envy’s encounter swirling in her mind, fresh from the nightmare that had awoken her.

“Authiel then.” He said slowly, noting that her demeanor had changed again. Her name felt odd on his tongue, but he hoped it would soothe whatever was wrong. Her face was now a look of something else, she seemed afraid of something or concerned, he couldn’t quite tell. He wished then that he could grab her and comfort her, but his station prevented him from moving as he simply returned her gaze.

“What did you need to talk to me about?” He asked cautiously. He didn’t understand what was wrong, or what it had to do with him. The events of the last few days had been almost a blur for everyone. Gaining the Templars, learning that Lord Seeker was a demon of Envy, the fighting in the war room afterwards, and the reports and job of integrating the Templars to the Inquisition.

“I, guess I don’t need to talk so much as…see you Cullen.” The words came slowly, carefully, and softly. She wasn’t sure how he’d react to them. She had flirted with him several times prior, being drawn in by his boyish charm and demanding presence, but he hadn’t exactly reciprocated. She wasn’t trying to flirt now either, but she wasn’t sure that it didn’t sound like it. Her face certainly didn’t match it though, her eyes darting quickly between his and his neck again.

He felt the heat in his cheeks, “See…see me?” He dropped his voice, staring back at her incredulously. _“Is this happening?”_ He wondered, but her tone and face did not match her words. It was worry that he heard in her voice. Then it struck him, the reports of the encounter with the demon Lord Seeker. In the report it stated that he had grabbed her, and she had been out for a bit before coming to and striking down a resemblance of herself. The heat from his cheeks faded, there was nothing else in the report, no elaborations. He had asked Cassandra about it after the war room, she said that the Herald had simply brushed the incident away and gotten back to battle soon after. The demon had said, or done something to her. He felt a chill under her gaze and gingerly reached out to rest his hand on her arm.

She watched him intently as he spoke, seeing him blush she didn’t feel quite as bad about earlier. She saw the concern in his face, she was indeed unsettling him but in more ways than she really intended. She didn’t move when he touched her, and was silently thankful for the warmth and reaffirmation that he was real sitting in front of her.

“The encounter with the Lord Seeker was…” She looked away, he was now studying her and she felt uncomfortable speaking of the incident that kept rallying to the forefront of her mind. “It was horrible. The Seek- the demon, Envy, played tricks on my mind I guess…” She stared at his boots, her voice trembling a bit.

He felt his chest tighten listening to her, they had only known each other a few months and as he could gather that alone wasn’t enough for her to want to open up to anyone. The thought that she was toyed with by a demon saddened and enraged him. She shivered and he moved closer, slipping the hand that had rested on her arm to put it around her shoulders. He did it unconsciously, but he knew neither of them wanted to make eye contact right now.

She fell into him gently, feeling his warmth and breathing in his smell. This was certainly unexpected, but not at all unwelcome. She found her confidence finally so she could continue and try to explain why she had come to see him in the middle of the night.

“Some things were things that had already happened, most weren’t. Most were…horrific visions of what the demon would do when it fully possessed me. It twisted and used the visages of all of my advisers, trying to break my spirit…” She felt his grip on her shoulder tighten, she was hoping that she was not dredging up anything horrific for him. She had heard stories and rumors but had never broached the topic of the Circle that he attended as a young Templar. He still said nothing and she waited, but his breathing had not changed either so she continued.

“The image that keeps replaying itself in my mind – in my nightmares – is of…you.” She started out with confidence but her voice dropped to one of caution as she finished the sentence. It was then that she looked up at him, his brows were furrowed and his eyes were quietly studying her. His grip had not changed, but his look was solemn at best. She felt her own brow furrow as disgust with herself welled up in her. She was upsetting him, she could see it in his face though his eyes remained concerned. She looked down again and moved to break away from him. His grip stayed fast and she found herself unable to leave.

“I’m – I’m so sorry…I should not have…I have no right to…I…”

He cut her off by shushing her and continued to hold onto her. He wasn’t even really sure what he was doing, his head was all over the place. This beautiful creature he was holding was attacked by a demon using _his_ image, his body. He was disgusted, he was more disgusted that he had not inquired about how she was doing before now, before she came to him. He knew the feelings of a demon being inside your head, messing with your emotions, using your friends against you – twisting them. The nightmares that came after, the vivid recollections, reliving the moments that had terrified you the most over and over… He had to stop his own train of thought, he _had_ to be helpful. She had chosen him to be the one to confide in, and why not, given his own past. He should be the one best to comfort her…he sighed heavily. He had no idea what to say.

“I’m glad that you came to someone – to me. The nightmares will likely continue but…you should…talk about them…with someone…” His words sounded foreign on his lips, decent advice he wagered, but not something he’d even done…or would do. His demons were his own. She turned her face up to him again, her eyes were misty now and her face was still one of concern.

“Thank you Cullen…” She whispered. “I didn’t want to bother you or…upset you or…anything else.” She raised one hand to his face and felt the light stubble brush her fingertips. His eyes closed for a moment, and when he opened them again, he smiled. She hadn’t seen him smile before, the scar on the left side of his mouth made it a bit lopsided, but all the more endearing.

“I had to make sure you were…okay…” She said then, suddenly remembering her purpose in all this. Her hand drifted from his cheek to the side of his neck and he shivered slightly under her touch.

“I’m fine.” He reassured her, still smiling and feeling heat creep into his cheeks again as she moved her hand.

“May I…be sure?” She asked him sheepishly, realizing how stupid it sounded. He cocked a brow, not understanding and nodded. She moved her hand again, using just the tips of her fingers and traced the front of his neck. Studying how he reacted and the skin beneath her fingers. She used her thumb to trace the same line back, gently just to be sure. There were no signs of scarring or of fresh wounds there, and she finally sighed a long breath of relief before meeting his eyes again. He looked at her worriedly with one eyebrow raised in question.

“What happ-” he stopped short and changed his question, “are you satisfied that I’m fine?”

“Yes, thank you.” She replied and finally smiled at up at him. It was a genuine smile this time, not forced like the one earlier.

He eyed her with the other question obviously still in his mind, but said nothing and instead returned her smile. _Maker, she was beautiful._ Her eyes finally relinquished the clouds he had seen in them earlier and were much lighter now. The vallaslin under her eyes a darker blue that complimented them perfectly and curled on the edges when she smiled. Her hair was unbrushed and a bit unruly, she must’ve come her straight after waking from a nightmare. His cheeks were certainly reddened after her touches and holding her so close and… _Maker, he was still holding onto her!_ She didn’t seem to mind since she had fallen into him so easily and even now was still leaning on him smiling up at him.

“I should likely let you rest, Commander.” She said softly, making a move to stand. “I shouldn’t have kept you up so late with my…”

“It’s more than fine.” He said quickly. He was glad she had turned to him. “You should get some rest yourself, Herald.” He said, not moving from the log as she turned to go. He watched her wave slightly and walk off the way she had come.

He then turned to the fire and raised his hand to his neck, feeling across the front where she had traced and studied so hard the entire conversation. His realization came slowly, and he felt an unwelcome chill go up his spine when it did. He understood why she needed to check on him so desperately, why she was driven to him in the middle of the night and his stomach twisted with the thought. “ _She watched as I was murdered in front of her.”_


End file.
